I am the Bunya Bunya tree
I am part of the family of Monkey Puzzle trees
I am speaking through Magick, as I have no human voice
What puzzles me
Is that humans make laws
that do not abide by the intrinsic laws of nature
and then feel compelled to uphold them.
I have stood amongst you for generations
I am also home to hundreds of friends and allies
that no one is speaking for either.
So many sweet songs have been sung in my branches as birds nest and raise their families
I am the home of millions of insects
I feel the winds of change in my branches
I sway and bend with its energy so I may continue to grow I am an immigrant; my family is from Australia,
I am not an invader, you brought me here,
Maybe to deliver a message
The aboriginal people honored me as sacred
I fed them and they gathered around me to declare
an end to all feuds.
I have watched you grow
and your children grow
so many generations
gone by
My friends, I can live 500 years
Many generations for you, my human sisters and brothers.
I hold dear the stories of this town
The welcoming sign that says we are a nuclear free and toxic free zone give me trust in you.
It seems you would at least care about yourselves…
Do you not know that you cannot breathe
If I do not live?
I am witness
to so many lumber trucks
going by carrying the corpses of my kin
and yet I know
Somewhere in your hearts
you care about me.
You don’t want
to sacrifice me to industry
But some of your laws say you
own me
you own the Earth
that your laws give you the right to enslave and exploit all other species and even your own.
One of your justices, William O. Douglas
declared in a court decision
that Trees have Standing, that trees
have the right to exist;
their purpose and autonomy rooted
in the rights of all species, the Earth and life itself I like your song, “just like a tree standing by the water I shall not be moved”.
I know you are struggling at this time,
But All of creation is calling you home.
The people of Sebastopol have felt divided
again and again over the use of land.
Come home to me now,
let go of your hubris, become humble
and really human
the roots of all those words are the same
they come from hummus the earth itself in which all things find life.
Maybe it is because you walk that you have forgotten
you too can have fertile minds and hearts where love and empathy can grow, like I grow in the earth
Circle me, let the music of the one song
break down your animosity,
let the drums of life
find resonance
All of us, you and I, are here,
One family.
Your conscious minds
can let you feel apart from the rest of us
but it is time for your minds to bow down to your hearts, When you do that you are so beautiful, creative,
Celebrating with all of us.
Come home my sisters and brothers,
Use your gift of consciousness wisely,
Every day you must choose between right and wrong
it is not so hard, love will always guide you to the right choice.
I know you can do it
let your children and your children’s children
be greeted by me
they will tell the story of your finest hour
When you were no longer puzzled
by greed and power.
I am standing tall among you
so that all life can flower,
to help you remember
The Power of Love that has created the web of life.
By
Magick
(Written and read at City Council to save the tree, still standing!)